Entrepreneurs share kitchen to survive economy

In the natural world, plants and animals form symbiotic relationships to stay alive. In the business world, some entrepreneurs join together to survive, too.

Shannon Renaud and Barb Jennings teamed up to help their food-related businesses in Arrowhead succeed.

Renaud rents a commercial kitchen near 89th Avenue and Union Hills Drive for Let's Do Dinner, a business that provides healthful, ready-made meals for busy singles and families so they can save on shopping and cooking time. Jennings runs Sweet Confections out of the same kitchen, baking custom cakes and desserts at night when Let's Do Dinner is closed.

"It's two businesswomen trying to make it together in this economy," Jennings, 46, said during a recent monthly taste-testing. "It's been a godsend."

Jennings was handing out miniature Boston cream cupcakes, while Renaud, 36, dished out cubes of apricot pork loin to customers sampling foods they would choose from in the coming month.

Clients make appointments with Let's Do Dinner to pick up frozen meals created by Renaud or spend a short amount of time in the kitchen prepping their own meals. Renaud provides an array of recipes, step-by-step instructions and the raw ingredients, already cleaned, chopped and measured. Peoria resident Shelly Fendly, 45, works for Honeywell as a program manager. Her husband works 24-hour shifts as an emergency medical technician.

Fendly had a grocery bag stuffed with meals to freeze at home. She buys six entrees in a typical month for $60, each of which feeds the couple and sometimes provides leftovers.

"When we're both working and we don't have enough time, I'll thaw one of these out," she said.

Demand for meal-prep stores surged nationwide before the recession, according to Bert Vermeulen, director of the Easy Meal Prep Co., a firm that tracks the industry. In 2007, 58 ready-made food businesses operated in Arizona.

But as family purse strings tightened, the industry took a hit.

Eleven stores remain open in the state, according to Vermeulen. Let's Do Dinner is the only one left in the West Valley.

Besides running their food businesses, both Renaud and Jennings are raising families and working other jobs.

Renaud is a part-time speech therapist.

Her husband works for University of Phoenix and serves in the Army Reserve. They have five kids, ages 4 to 13, who "kid-proof" the dishes.

Jennings coordinates activities for a retirement community.

Her husband is a loss-control specialist for Liberty Mutual. They are raising four children.

Renaud said she gets satisfaction out of helping other moms achieve what she wanted: to "do it all."

"I can be a career woman, I can be a mom and I can still put a hot, healthy meal on the table," she said, describing the goal.